


Instinct

by solitariusvirtus, tenten_d



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin
Genre: Afterlife, Death, Drabble, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-03
Updated: 2015-01-03
Packaged: 2018-03-05 03:49:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 625
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3104480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/solitariusvirtus/pseuds/solitariusvirtus, https://archiveofourown.org/users/tenten_d/pseuds/tenten_d
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Did you love him?” It’s curiosity. They are alike, the two of them. Love has slain them both. The kinship tugs at her. </p><p>“I still love him.” And then she smiles. Cersei wishes she might say the same.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Instinct

**Author's Note:**

  * For [delusaedisillusa](https://archiveofourown.org/users/delusaedisillusa/gifts).



> A gift for Velatavelenosa. For your Cersei collection. I hope you enjoy it. :)

Cersei is howling with laughter, alabaster skin reddening. The bruise marring her flesh is almost lost within the flush. Before her Lyanna Stark stands smiling, her young face innocent and sweet. Of all the faces that could have greeted her in the afterlife it had to be her. Robert’s little innocent. “I always wondered, did you go with him willingly?”

The girl – for she is a girl even if she’d had Rhaegar inside of her – bites down on her lip and her eyes glaze over. Her gaze becomes unfocused, as if she were sorting through her memories. “Aye, I was willing,” she says in the end. It’s just that; no excuses, no explanations. Begrudgingly, Cersei has to admit that the girl is more than she though of her.

“Did you love him?” It’s curiosity. They are alike, the two of them. Love has slain them both. The kinship tugs at her. 

“I still love him.” And then she smiles. Cersei wishes she might say the same. 

“I killed Robert,” Cersei hisses at her, wondering if she might have anything but that sweet smile. “I would have done so earlier. He whispered your name when he bedded me.”

“He’s always been a fool,” the she-wolf counters placidly. “But I am not here for Robert, or for Rhaegar.”

“Why then?” The question has barely left her lips when Lyanna holds her hand out. Cersei reaches for it tentatively. “I killed your brother.”

“Aye, I’ve seen him.” It’s maddening, the way this girl looks at her. Lyanna Stark seems to understand. But how can she? “The debt has been paid.” Cersei takes her hand and the girl continues speaking. “We do horrible things for what we want, for those we love. ‘Tis our way to be selfish creatures.” She says it as if it were fact. As if better people than them do not exist.

Lyanna Stark must have learned how to read thoughts because she laughs lightly, dark hair spilling all around her. “Oh, Your Grace, there are plenty of people who are better than us. But just as many who are worse.”

“I don’t want your pity,” Cersei tells her, snatching her hand away. “If you hadn’t–“

“If I hadn’t, someone else would have. You perhaps, or another. There would have still been blood and strife.” Her eyes have narrowed into slits and her voice has risen in pitch. “What use is there in speaking of things that cannot be changed?”

She’s right, of course she is. Cersei nods her head, not in mere understanding, but in acceptance. She knows that had it been her to be sought out she would have gone the way of Lyanna too. And there really is no use in speaking on the matter further. Yet she can’t help one last wave of wicked delight. “What would you have done differently had you the chance?”

A sly smile makes its way to Lyanna’s lips. “Those changes would not pertain to me.” They share a halted laugh at that, it’s quite improper a thought. Lyanna is the first to sober. “I can but point the way to you, Your Grace, and you must choose whether you stay here or go.”

“Go,” the lioness whispers. “Go where?” She is caught in a sea of nothingness.

“Wherever it is you must go.” The she-wolf speaks in tongues. Strangely enough, Cersei does understand.

“Is there redemption?” she questions, something crawling its way inside of her.

“Why? Are you repentant?” Lyanna counters, mischief shining in her eyes.

“No.” She isn’t. It’s the natural order of things. “We do what we have to.” It’s been her truth for as long as she can remember. It’s the only truth, really.

“Good,” the other answers. “Then come with me.”


End file.
